On His Own terms
by Berserker Singh
Summary: Gale is aware of his feelings for the Mayor's daughter but recognizes that nothing can come of it and goes on as usual. All that changes on the night of the bombing. Starts with the bombing. Rated T for possible presence of graphic gore in upcoming chapters. May not necessarily end happily but a healthy chance of a perfect ending. May be incredibly fluffy in the later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

As soon as Gale figured out that the Capitol's going to try to wipe out Twelve, he could only think of Madge. He instructed Rory to take as many people as he could to the meadow. He then turned to Hazelle and told her to pack everything of emotional importance, namely a few pictures of her husband. Then, he's flying. He went to Thom's first, only to find him already out on his porch because of the mysterious and abrupt power cut.

The power cut was not unusual. What was unusual was the fact that it had happened during the Games. Thom looked at Gale approaching form and came down the porch to meet at the sidewalk. Gale only told Thom to trust him and to get as many people as he could to the meadow. As he made to run again, Thom grips his wrist and asks him the reason with an air of stubbornness . Knowing better than to resist, Gale only said 6 words, "The Capitol's gonna wipe out Twelve".

Understanding flashes in Thom's face immediately and he nods before letting go of Gale's wrist and running inside. Knowing that Thom would get his own family out first, Gale starts running again. He sprints to the Mayor's Mansion along the small road out back and finds _her_ out in the back garden, her dress poofing around her knees as she lay down, just looking at the sky. She still hadn't noticed Gale running towards her and if times had been better, he would have just stopped there for a minute to take in her beauty and innocence.

However, there was a crisis at hand and Gale sped up even more when she came into view. Madge sat up and turned to look at him when she heard his approach. She had one look at his face and she stood up quickly. She rushed towards him to meet him at the fence. Her query was just forming on her lips when Gale raised his hand to stop her.

"Madge" he wheezed out "Get your family and go to the meadow".

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AN: I'm sorry that this chapter is so short but something of the utmost importance came up. Don't worry (if you're worrying at all), I'll probably update within the week. So, follow and review. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - I'm so very sorry for disappearing off the face of the earth. I read the first chapter and couldn't move beyond thinking that it was utter crap. So, now I'm going to not go over this chapter (that I just wrote all over again) or else I might lose my nerve. BTW I'm fairly new to writing so any advice would be appreciated.**

She looked up at him with those big blue eyes of hers and Gale was once more reminded of how tiny she was. Gale shook those thoughts out of his mind and just as she opened her moth to ask for an explanation, He cut her off.

"The Capitol's gonna want revenge on Katniss".

Apparently, that was all she needed. She understood. Of course she did, she'd learnt to read into each and every incident and understand its implications. One did not survive as the Mayor's daughter with picking up a few skills. Gale was pretty sure she'd have arrived at the same conclusion he had within a couple of minutes.

Madge nodded and darted inside. Gale was tempted to hold her back and take just her with him so that he could keep her safe but he knew that he couldn't do that to her. He had gotten his family out and deserved the same. He also was compelled for a fleeting for a moment to confess his feelings to her but he quickly decided against it. He did not want to do it on the Capitol's terms. He would tell her when the time was right, on his own terms.

A small voice in his asked him what he would do if she didn't make it. Gale squashed that voice with the utmost ruthlessness. He absolutely refused to even consider that as a possibility.

All these thoughts raced through his head as he watched Madge race inside and then he tore down the road to the Everdeen's.

He reached the Victor's Village to see both blonde Everdeens out on their porch, obviously not understanding why they had been hit with a power cut. there were never any power cuts in the Village.

AS he approached them, Prim ran out to intercept him but Gale didn't stop until he reached her mother. He stopped in front of her to catch his breath for a moment as he haltingly conveyed his suspicions to her and Prim (who had followed Gale back to her mother). He knew that they didn't have a lot of time left and he pulled the both of them along, not giving them any time to pack anything. He had a hunch that the Village would be spared.

The trio was running forr the meadow the next moment. The just reached the gate to the Village when the first bomb hit, all the way in the Seam.

They stumbled a little before they continued running. The second bomb hit just then, starting off a continuous rain of firebombs that shook the ground without respite and saturated the air with the sound of explosions.

As they neared the town, Gale noticed that the rain of rain now moving towards them, so he told the two petite blondes to skirt around Town along the fence to reach the spot where (hopefully) Thom had managed to tear it down.

Then he ran straight into Hell.

 **A/N - I hope that this wasn't utter crap. Please review and try to limit it to constructive criticism. Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Well, I'm back again! I have some free time on my hands and will try my best to clear 10k words before the 6th. Reviews and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks y'all!**

The air was full of smoke and more hauntingly, terrified screams of men, women and children alike. Gale's eyes were watering, his throat was burning, his mouth had dried up and his legs were starting to hurt but he didn't stop. He had to make sure that Madge was okay. His brain knew that Madge had his heads up but his heart refused to reason. He had to make sure that she was okay.

Gale finally stumbled into the town square and was struck still with dread. Where there had been the beautiful Mayor's Mansion visible from the Square, there was nothing. He pulled himself out of his brief moment of inactivity and plowed onward, hoping against hope that the smoke had clouded his vision but there was no such luck for him.

The bombers had been preparing for another wave and the air was somewhat clearer. He almost collapsed on his knees when he saw that the the once proud Mansion was now nothing more than a pile of burning wreckage. There was no chance of survival for anyone that may have been trapped in there. None.

Gale shook himself out of his third stupor of the hour and reasoned with himself. Madge had gotten out way before the first bomb had hit. She was probably out in the woods by now.

He managed to convince himself enough to continue running for safety but was halted mid-stride by a scream. He turned around so fast that he got a crick in his neck and heard the scream come from a house that was going to fall in on itself any moment.

Without much further thought, he started running for the house and recognized the scream to be a girl's somewhere along the way.

As he neared what remained of the house, another bomb fell and Gale was flung backwards. He hit his head on the ground and nearly blacked out but the adrenaline in his system kept him functioning. He lifted his head to look at the structure he had been running at and saw nothing but a flaming pile of debris. Her screams had been silenced forever.

Gale got up and started running for the meadow again, now running again to save his life as he realized that nothing could have been done.

AS Gale ran through the District (what was left of it), he came across a bunch of people who were scared beyond coherence and were running along like headless chicken. He herded them all and the group followed him like sheep as he ran for the meadow. He kept shouting around for everyone to get to the meadow, hoping to alert a few stragglers.

On the way, he had to navigate through rows of burning houses and clouds of smoke. Even the roads were burning. The coal dust that had managed to get embedded in the ground had gone up in flames and Gale could feel the heat through his cheap boots as he ran. As he lead the survivors around a final intersection to come onto a road which lead directly to the meadow, Gale looked back.

What he saw made him stop. While the adults were running like Hell, a tiny little girl in her pajamas had fallen behind. She was barefoot. He had been running _barefoot_ on the _burning_ roads and none of the grown ups had helped her. Anger at the little shits he had just lead to safety filled him as he ran back for the girl. None of the jerks even looked at him as they ran.

Gale reached the girl and quickly hoisted her onto his back as she started running again. His scars prickled from the extra weight being added on his rough shirt as it rubbed against his back but he paid it no heed.

AS the both of them entered the meadow, Gale thanked the heavens for the coincidence that the fence had been pulled mere meters away from where they had exited the streets.

They came across the tracks that the escaping residents had left into the grass and he was slightly worried for a moment before it was quickly replaced by relief.

Gale slowed down his pace and his heart slowed down somewhat as they entered the woods.

 **Well, i do hope that this chapter was better. Now, give me some input. Does Madge simply make it to meadow and is reunited with Gale or is she captured but the peacekeepers and kept in the capitol to be tortured and finally reunited with the rest of the district of the rescue attempt. Answer soon, fellas.**

 **Joker out.**


	4. Chapter 4

As the adrenaline rush from the bombing wore off, Gale became aware of the injuries he had incurred during his crazed dash for safety. His legs burned from the acid that had accumulated in his muscles, his feet were sore and tender, he was aware of his ash and soot-smeared face as he followed the trail of destruction the fleeing residents had left in the undergrowth and shrubbery.

Once again, the vulnerability of the whole situation hit him as he realised how easy it would have been for the Capitol to finish their mission for the night. He, however, realised that nothing could be done about the situation and trudged on steadily.

As he walked through the woods, the reality of the situation hit him. Hundreds must have had escaped, he judged from the damage to the forest and he was the only one who could live off the forest.

Gale slowly became aware of the problems the escapees would face in the very near future, burns, infection, starvation, depression and the off-chance that the Capitol would come back to finish the job it had started that day. Gale vowed to himself to not think about the crisis as throbbing manifested itself in his temple.

He then turned his attention to the matter at hand, or on his back for that matter. The tiny girl had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. He looked back at the girl and got his first good look at her. She had blonde hair done in pigtails and from whatever he could see of her clothes, he judged her to be from the Town. No, he quickly corrected himself, she was like the rest of the survivors, homeless.

Thinking of survivors, he was suddenly reminded of Madge. Gale's heart filled up with worry and his feet picked up pace. He was more scared about Mage than he was about his family. He trusted Rory with their safety. Plus they'd had a headstart.

As his gait became increasingly rough and erratic, owing to his fast pace and the roots on the forest floor, the girl woke up. Gale felt her lift her head from his shoulder and then suddenly tense up as she realised where she was. He stopped walking and set her down on a nearby log to look her over for her injuries as she started crying without preamble.

Gale sat her down on the log and crouched before her. He adopted the tone he talked to Posy in whenever she was upset as he asked her what was wrong. Hearing Gale's deep and calm voice, she calmed down just enough to get out a coherent reply as she told him that her feet hurt and that she was scared.

Gale mentally slapped himself for forgetting to look at her feet. When he took a foot in his hand, he was astounded how the girl had managed to fall asleep. Both her feet were burnt pretty bad and they were bleeding with some gravel embedded in them.

Gale drew in a sharp breath as he realised how high the chances of the girl contracting an infection were.

AN - I'm discontinuing this story. I'll be rewriting it and the first chapter will be up in a few days.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Yeah, I'm back. Turns out that I don't hate what I wrote earlier, just detest it. So, I'll be continuing with this. --

Gale knew that he wasn't in the place or in possession of the skills or the tools needed to tend to her wounds so he decided to get her to Mrs. E as quickly as he could. Decision made, he promised the girl that she would be okay and then hoisted her to his back again.

Gale started walking on the path trampled into existence by the fleeing survivors, taking extra care to make his movements fluid so as to keep the girl comfortable. Soon, the relatively reduced pace and the absence of immediate danger of burning and/or exploding made the effects of adrenaline wear off Gale. He became acutely aware of his aching muscles, dry lungs and his throbbing head, among other notable pains. Judging from the sniffling, the girl's wounds were also introducing themselves to her in earnest.

In order to distract her, Gale started talking. He didn't know her or what had happened to her family so he tried to keep the topics of conversation light and non-invasive. With time, she started asking questions as well. By the time they reached the rest of the survivors, Gale knew that Lily was 7 years old, loved birds, wanted to have a sparrow as a pet (but pigeons were cute too) and that his hair was very pretty and soft.

She reminded him of Posy and he was sure the two of them would click right off the bat.

When they finally did reach the rest of the survivors, there was absolute silence. Gale could only see somber faces and the difficulty of the task before him finally hit Gale. Here were dozens of people (that he could see) who would need food and water. Resources, which were not abundant in the first place.

Gale detected movement in front of him and walked over to it. Mrs E and Prim had set up a makeshift medical centre but there wasn't much they could do without proper supplies. Here were the people who were coughing and retching because of smoke inhalation.

Gale was sure that some of them would be dead by the morning and that nothing could be do done to help them.

Somber, he walked over to Prim and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and quickly moved to take Lily. Lily, however held onto Gale's shirt, unwilling to let him go away.

After reassuring her that she would be safe with Prim and he would be back soon, he walked off to find his family. Someone wordlessly pointed him in their direction and Gale followed their directions after nodding his thanks.

Rory saw him first and Gale saw some of the tension in his shoulders bleed away. He quietly informed Hazelle, who had been holding a sleeping Posy, and Vick, who had been silently staring off into the trees, of his arrival and both of them snapped their neck in his direction. Both of them were visibly relieved.

Hazelle patted the ground next to her and Gale lied down, content to rest for a couple of minutes, reassured with the knowledge of his family's safety.

A/N : I do not exaggerate when I say that reviews are powerful motivators.


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